A 61-year-old man was shot to death by police while his wife was handcuffed in another room during a drug raid on the wrong house.

Police admitted their mistake, saying faulty information from a drug informant contributed to the death of John Adams Wednesday night. They intended to raid the home next door.

[snip]

The two officers, 25-year-old Kyle Shedran and 24-year-old Greg Day, were placed on administrative leave with pay.

We did the best surveillance we could do, and a mistake was made, Lebanon Police Chief Billy Weeks said. Its a very severe mistake, a costly mistake. It makes us look at our own policies and procedures to make sure this never occurs again. He said, however, the two policemen were not at fault.

There actually was a case in Western Maryland in the late 70s where several cops were killed in a no-knock raid and that really did put a stop to the shit for a long time afterwards, but we need to end the war on drugs and we need to outlaw no-knock raids.

I just glimpsed what’s wrong with this country by chance juxtposition. Having been away from the computer all morning, I refresh FR to see this story about a man murdered by the cops, while simultaneously listening to the opening minutes of Rush chortling like a pig about professional sports.

I saw that at the original ABC story which isn't dated and I can't find any other news showing when this happened. However the ABC account is showing up now in blogs and DU in addition to FR. Something doesn't seem right.

Government at all levels is dangerous and unaccountable...a deadly mix.
Thomas Jefferson wisely observed, “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

Now seriously, their info came from a drug enforcer? Since I have expert knowledge of police procedures (Law & Order, NCIS & CSI) shouldn't they then have surveyed the home for obvious signs of drug dealing? I mean their CI says these guys are dealing drugs and on THAT basis and only that basis, they raided the wrong house and killed an innocent man.

He said, however, the two policemen were not at fault.

Well then, who the hell is at fault? Those two deserve at least manslaughter charges.

Police admitted their mistake, saying faulty information from a drug informant contributed to the death of John Adams Wednesday night. They intended to raid the home next door.

The whitewash has started, what does anyone want to bet that when the investigation is over (investigated by the police, how convenient) they will say procedure was followed, it was an accident and no one is at fault?

I know what is at fault:

1) Their procedures.

2) Gestapo like policemen.

3) Whoever was running this CI. And, what did the CI get in return, reduced sentence, money, civic duty award?

4) Did they bother to look at the correct house and see if they are indeed dealing drugs?

Back in my day, we all knew the Sheriffs around, they knew us and we got along. They'd see us drinking beer behind the pizza place and not say anything (we were 16, 17, 18 or so). They would occasionally say, is there anything there that shouldn't be in that car? Never any problems, except for the CHP officer.

He got all of us (we deserved it) Like an idiot I wasn't paying attention and made a turn and grabbed three gears and didn't see his enormous CHP car. He did laugh though, he thought it was impressive that I could grab three gears. He did give me the minimum charge which was speeding.

27
posted on 09/25/2012 9:23:03 AM PDT
by Lx
(Do you like it, do you like it. Scott? I call it Mr. and Mrs. Tennerman chili.)

As the death toll of innocent people minding their business in their own homes continues to grow, can we at least get the police to stop calling these killings 'mistakes'? A 'mistake' implies that such killings are not considered acceptable collateral damage in the Drug War, but the evidence indicates otherwise - the only certainties are that innocent people and their household pets are going to keep getting shot, and drug use will continue unabated.

Police admitted their mistake, saying faulty information from a drug informant contributed to the death of John Adams Wednesday night. They intended to raid the home next door.

************

BS....

double-BS....

triple-BS....

The police agency with controlling jurisdiction-- and its sworn officers are the ones serving the warrant, knocking down the door, holding the gun... and sadly... pulling the trigger.

They have a DUTY to verify their information BEFORE they swear to a judge to obtain a warrant..... ...and they have a DUTY protect the rights off the innocent during any encounter/contact... (even if they find the guilty b*st*rd)

--BUT-- ESPECIALLY during erroneous accusation/raid/arrest events....

34
posted on 09/25/2012 9:27:18 AM PDT
by Wings-n-Wind
(The main things are the plain things!)

If we ended the War on Some Drugs the price of such drugs would be close to the price of hay; about $5 per bail. This would create the opportunity for drug users to eliminate themselves from the gene pool. I don't see the problem with this.

There needs to be one huge case, giving a huge payment for restitution, then these clowns will find a way to do it right. I am a big fan of tort reform, but there are times when these cases do it right by forcing organizations to make sure they know what they are doing, who they are supposed to be arresting, etc. Don’t they even ask questions when they go into the wrong residence? Is it me, or are we all seeing this happen more and more often? This is scary. It could happen to anyone, anywhere. I’ve seen some cases where the cops were exonerated, but what happens to the family who were wronged? This is so wrong.

This is a story that gets referenced a lot in the "police shootings" blogs, and I guess someone found it and reposted it, and with no date, it can confuse people.

The Attorney General of Tennessee at the time was Tommy Thompson, I assume no relation to the Tommy Thompson running for Senate in Wisconsin. The shooting had a racial component because the victim was black. Maybe the lefties are stupid enough to think they can smear Tommy Thompson as a racist, not realizing it's a 12-year-old story and it's a different Tommy Thompson.

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